Young Children’s Community

Equally important to the physical environment (the classroom and the materials), is the psychological and social environment we provide for the children. The adults in each community must be the very best models of language, movement, and social relationships.

The multi-age community also allows children to learn a great deal from one another. The young child who first enters the community benefits from having peer role models in the classroom, while the oldest children have the opportunity to experience being a leader and a helper.

The classroom is a place of respect. Everything is child-sized—from the custom-made tables and chairs to the shelves, vases, plates and utensils, and even toilets. In an environment that offers such appropriately-sized opportunities, children are expected to take on greater responsibilities for taking care of themselves and others.

Young children have a drive towards independence—"Help me do it myself." They gravitate toward activities that develop motor skills: running, carrying, climbing, or swinging; grasping knobs, wielding shovels, handling paintbrushes, or petting animals. Control of their own bodies heralds a control of self, including the ability to dress, eat, and toilet independently.

Children in the Young Children’s Communities are at an age where they are learning to do more and more for themselves. We support their quest towards independence by allowing the child to do all they are capable of doing. Our environments are laid out to support this desire for autonomy, with child-sized furniture and activities specifically designed for independent practice.

“Children Can Do Much More Than We Expect.”

A young child's brain is growing at a tremendous pace. Just look at language development. Within six years, children develop from infancy (from the Latin for, literally, "not speaking") to fluency in their native language(s): few adults can claim such speed or success! Both Dr. Montessori’s observations and modern brain imaging show that the young child's brain is a source of enormous potential and promise, where neural pathways in regular use are reinforced and those ignored or neglected are pruned away. Each of those brain connections is a platform for future learning. Shouldn't we make sure children have as varied and stimulating an environment as possible, to give scope to all their talents?

Children between the ages of 0 and 3 years spend much time working on the refinement of movement. In the Young Children’s Community, movement is encouraged and constant. Much learning takes place through movement in the development of muscular memory. Many activities are designed to promote movement in the setup and performance of the work.

The activities of practical life are those that are common in daily activities that all human beings do for their own well being and for the care of their environment. Just as the child absorbs the language around him, he also absorbs these activities from the environment around him and then decides to imitate the adult and reproduce the activity.

Our programs include options for early morning and afternoon care as space allows.

For Young Children's Community and Primary levels, participation in before-school and after-school programs are on a contractual basis only; we cannot accept young children on a drop-in or hourly basis. These programs fill up quickly, so it is necessary to sign up at the time of re-registration or new enrollment for the following school year. Priority is given to children who are continuing in the program from the previous year.

The Full-Day Young Children's Community (FDYCC) serves the needs of the youngest children (ages 14 months to 3 years). This program provides a single, consistent environment from drop-off to pick-up, and is staffed by a trained Montessori teacher and assistants. 

When they are ready, in terms of personal independence and social readiness, students move up from the Young Children's Community to the Post Oak Primary program (ages 3 to 6).

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